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Mary Reynolds scooped a gold at the Chelsea flower show in 2002 but this story of her life is no winner

Inspired by the real-life story of the Irish landscape designer Mary Reynolds, who in 2002 won a gold medal at the Chelsea flower show, this film captures the essence of wild spaces about as effectively as a plug-in air freshener. It’s a herbaceous bore of a movie which trades in twee Oirish cliches and features a male romantic lead who has all the charisma of a shrub.

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Based on the story of Irish landscape designer Mary Reynolds competing at Chelsea in 2002, this outsider movie undermines its eco message with sentiment

This sappy, in every sense, based-on-a-true story drama tells the story of how Irish landscape designer Mary Reynolds (played by Emma Greenwell) came to compete at the 2002 Chelsea flower show. Reynolds’ entry was a Celtic-themed space made with mature hawthorn trees, weathered stone, wildflowers and lots of waffle about the sanctity of untamed nature. The underlying eco-message is laudable, and the filmmakers deserve respect for getting a movie about garden design financed at all, but they do lay the sentiment on thick with a bulldozer, smothering the good bits with a dense compost of mawkishness and cliche. Consequently, Reynolds comes across here not just as an iconoclastic outsider but as a hippie sprite with Timotei-advert hair who must go to battle with the punctilious tweed-suited upper-class...

With all due respect to Mary Reynolds, a skilled, diligent and creative landscape gardner who impressed in remarkable fashion in her debut Chelsea Flower Show a number of years ago – questions do remain as to whether her story is one that demands a cinematic retelling. Though you can’t not commend her accomplishments, and […]

The post Dare to be Wild Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Fancy seeing Dare to be Wild before anybody else? Of course you do. So we're making it really easy to win tickets to see this fascinating, true story. Simply fill in your details below and keep an eye on your inbox, as we'll be emailing winners next Monday / Tuesday. It's happening in the Omniplex, Mahon Point on Wednesday, September 14th at 630pm Sharp. Loading... The film follows Mary Reynolds’ adventures from the green hills of Ireland, to the desert highlands of Ethiopia, to London's Chelsea for the garden design competition of 2002. Dare To Be Wild is the against-all-odds story of a modern-day heroine, whose quest is to show the world the power of wild nature as she reaches for her dreams - one garden, one vast desert, at a time. The heart of this true romantic adventure is Mary Reynolds’ quest to win the gold medal at the 2002 Chelsea Flower...

The BBC First British Film Festival has revealed its full program.

Featuring 31 titles, the program aims to capture the magic, unique humour, romance, traditions and new age vitality of British culture.

The festival will open with Paolo Sorrentino.s film, Youth, nominated for the Palme d.Or at this year.s Cannes film festival, and the follow up to his Academy Award-winning film, The Great Beauty (2013)..

Following two old friends, retired composer Fred (Michael Caine) and film director Mick (Harvey Keitel), on vacation at a prestigious hotel in the Swiss Alps, the film is an introspective and thought-provoking, wry buddy comedy — and it employs Sorrentino.s hallmark stunning visuals to majestic effect.

Straight from its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, The Man Who Knew Infinity — the retelling of mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan.s life — will close the festival..

Featuring performances from Dev Petal (Slumdog Millionaire) as Ramanujan, and...

Mimi Steinbauer’s Radiant Films International has sold key territories at the Efm on its rom-com.

The rom-com starring Emma Greenwell and Tom Hughes screens in the market on February 9 and has gone to Japan (The Klockworx Co), Australia and New Zealand (Pinnacle Films) and Portugal (Cinemundo).

Deals also closed in the Middle East (Gulf Film), Israel (Forum), South Africa (Blue Reign), Iceland (Myndform) and Captive for airlines.

Writer-director Vivienne de Courcy makes her feature film debut on the story about an Irish girl from the countryside who takes on British high society in a celebrated flower show.

Rebecca O’Flanagan produced Dare To Be Wild with Robert Walpole, while Sarah Johnson and Chloe Kassis Crowe served as executive producers.

“Buyers at Efm have truly embraced this uplifting and gorgeously shot film which is based on the true story of Mary Reynolds, a garden designer from Ireland who went on to win the gold medal in garden...

The Fall actress Séainín Brennan has been cast in new romantic drama Wild.

Brennan, who played bereaved mother Liz Tyler in the BBC series, starts filming for the new movie this month alongside Tom Hughes and Shameless actress Emma Greenwell.

"It's very exciting to be cast in my first feature film," said Brennan.

"What drew me to Wild is the brilliantly written fun quirky script by Vivienne DeCourcy and I just love a story that champions the underdog!"

She added: "My character, Dr Jaqui Finch, is a far cry from Liz Tyler in The Fall. She's glamorous and fashionable but she has her own set of problems and issues.

"I really enjoy taking on a variety of roles, as I like to continually challenge myself and take on a new persona. It allows me to go on that person's journey without having the burden of their problems in real life.

Radiant Films International has picked up international rights to Wild, a comedy-drama marking Vivienne DeCourcy’s feature film directorial debut. Emma Greenwell (Shameless) will star as Mary Reynolds, a garden designer who aims to compete in the Chelsea Flower show, a.k.a. the Olympics of gardening. Tom Hughes has been cast as an environmentalist who helps Mary pursue garden gold. Photos: 'The Bling Ring' Steals the Spotlight at Cannes Premiere CEO Mimi Steinbauer of Radiant Films, which is shopping the project at Cannes, calls DeCourcy’s script “fun and quirky” and “a great antidote to today’s toils and troubles.”

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